Waydespectives

Just last Monday, the Budget 2019 was delivered by Finance Minister (and probably Prime Minister designate) Heng Swee Keat. This budget was long awaited as rumours of a General Election would be coming soon. I did think prior to this budget that this budget would be indicative of whether the GE will be held this year or next.  To sidetrack a bit, while I have been following the Budget for a few years (thankfully I've started to understand the Budget more and more), Budget 2018 was a significant one for me. First, it was when Minister Heng announced the increase in GST from 7% to 9% in the next term of Parliament (2021-2025), and the immediate increase of 10% of the excise duty of all tobacco tax. Secondly, it was announced the day before my enlistment, so I was just lying on my bed feeling depressed before my impending doom. Before I begin my recap and (attempted) analysis of the Budget, please note that what I present is not whole for 2 reasons. If I were to cover the...

Recently, I was informed by my NUS High School juniors that the NUS Bonus Point Admission Scheme has been extended from just A Level graduates to local Polytechnics, IB Diploma, and our NUS High School Diploma.  To explain it in NUS High's context, the Bonus Point works whereby if the applicant will be considered for his/her first choice course with an increased CAP of 0.1. However, this applies only for courses without interview requirements. For example, if an NUSHS graduate has a CAP of 4.4, but applies to (for example) Computer Science (CS) as first choice, he/she will be considered for CS with a CAP of 4.5. However, shall he/she not get CS as first choice, his/her will be considered with the original 4.4 CAP for the second choice onwards. If this graduate chooses a first choice course which has interviews, such as Medicine, Law, or Dentistry, the bonus points will not apply. More information can be read at:  http://www.nus.edu.sg/oam/docs/default-source/admission...

After getting my driver's license on 4 Jan earlier this year, I have been practicing driving on the roads for about a month and a half now. I've seen many weird stuff happen on the roads, and the number is likely to increase. One of the challenges I've seen is discretionary right turns on the roads. For those who do not drive, discretionary right turns happens at a cross-junction. Suppose I wish to turn right at a traffic light. I form up in the lane for motorists turning right. If I am the first motorist in line, if I deem that the oncoming traffic is clear enough for me to turn right, I can go ahead even if the green arrow has not come on. Sometimes, an oncoming vehicle could be approaching the junction, but if I decide I can complete my turn before he reaches the junction, I can perform my discretionary right turn. Such junctions with discretionary right turns often have a green arrow next to the green light. The danger of such discretionary right turns is w...

I first blogged about the timing of the next General Election about more than 3 months ago. For those who are new or did not read my initial post, one can view the post at  https://thecwtheorems.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-next-general-election-ge2019.html. In the post, I predicted that the next General Elections in Singapore will be held this year, year 2019. This is in spite of most election cycles being full 5 years, with the exception of the 2001 and 2015 General Elections.  In summary, I have not changed my view that the next General Election will be held this year. In fact, in light of recent developments, there is more evidence that the General Elections will be held this year. I will discuss these developments in this post. Firstly, the Elections Department started training 30,000 public servants who have been appointed as Election Officials for the next GE. In fact, these officials have started training since the second half of last year. In the last GE, public ...